1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a portable terminal and a program invoking method therefor, and in particular, to a portable terminal capable of invoking a program using a hot key and a program invoking method therefor.
2. Description of the Related Art
A portable terminal is a portable device that provides wireless communication service to a user through radio communication with a base station (BS). This portable terminal has become popular with users all over the world irrespective of their age. It is now a necessity of daily living. The portable terminal includes a transmitter/receiver, a data input/output device, and an antenna, for exchanging voice or other data.
FIG. 1 illustrates a typical folder-type terminal. Referring to FIG. 1, the folder-type terminal has two housings rotatably connected by a hinge device. The two housings are a main housing 10 and a folder 20. The folder-type terminal is comprised of the main housing 10, the folder 20, the hinge device 15 for connecting the main housing 10 to the folder 20 such that the folder 20 can rotate to an opened and/or closed position with respect to the main housing 10, and a lens housing 30 rotatably mounted on the hinge device 15.
The main housing 10 has a keypad 13 with a plurality of keys 16 and a microphone 14 on its front surface 10a of the main housing 10. The keypad 13 is divided into an alphanumeric key portion 17 having a plurality of numeric keys 16 for entering digits or characters and conducting a conversation session with another party using a similar terminal. The keypad 13 further includes a function key portion 18 having select keys for invoking stored programs and setting environment. The select keys will be described below. Although in the preferred embodiment two key sections 17 and 18 are shown, it should be understood by those skilled in the art that functionality performed by key sections 17 and 18 may be performed by only one of these sections.
The folder 20 includes a speaker 21 and a display, i.e., a liquid crystal display (LCD) module 22 on its bottom surface 20a. The lens housing 30 is comprised of a camera lens 31 and a charge coupled device (CCD: not shown) for providing power. The lens housing 30 is disposed coaxially with the hinge device 15 and thus rotates upon the hinge axis of the hinge device 15.
FIG. 2 shows the function key portion 18 illustrated in FIG. 1. The function key portion 18 includes setting keys 18a, a MENU key 18c, an INTERNET key 18d, and an OK key 18e. The setting keys 18a include select keys for rapid invocation of a program and environment setting for the programs executing on the terminal of the present invention. The program will be discussed below. The select keys 18a co-function as scroll keys for moving a pointer displayed on the LCD module 22 in four directions to select an intended character after the program is invoked. With these setting keys 18a, a program is easily and rapidly selected.
The MENU key 18c is used to display the icons of specific programs on the LCD module 22, for settings of the programs and registration of new programs. The INTERNET key 18d selects a stored Internet browser program and manages a wireless Internet connection. The OK key 18e is used to indicate approval of program functions, actions, and to update data.
The portable terminal provides hot keys to rapidly and easily invoke various programs stored on the portable terminal displayed on FIG. 1. The use of a hot key allows invocation of a corresponding application programs using one or two key strokes without a complicated menu selection. The Palm Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), which is a great commercial success, offers four hot keys to run stored programs in a more user-friendly fashion. Now, most PDAs provide four hot keys. If more hot keys are made available on the portable terminal, such keys will provide more convenience. However, the number of hot keys is limited by the restricted small size of the portable terminal.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,596,656 issued to Xerox discloses a technique of selecting and displaying a text using symbols mapped to characters.
FIG. 3 illustrates an example of a text-symbol table listing symbols mapped to characters. To display an intended character, a symbol corresponding to the character is drawn in a predetermined portion of a user interface in the terminal. Despite the advantage of simple character display, this method is confined to characters and thus hot keys are required in software or hardware to run programs. Moreover, a user must memorize all the symbols for the characters to use the above text selection method, which, as easily surmised from FIG. 3, is not an easy task. Furthermore, symbols are drawn on the user interface with a pen-type device with a sharp tip in order to enter a text. This implies that the portable terminal must be equipped with this input device to use the functionality.